Yadkinville town clerk retiring after 46 years

Town Clerk Nancy Hollar has been a pillar of the town of Yadkinville government for almost half a century, becoming a friend and mother figure to fellow employees, friends say.

"I've never worked with anyone like her," said Tax Collector Joy Hutchens. "It's wonderful. She's one of the best co-workers I've ever had. She was a good teacher."

"Of course, I love the people here," Hollar said. "My work staff here are like my children."

When the new year starts, it will be the first time in 46 years that Hollar won't come into Town Hall as an employee. She started May 26, 1965, and her retirement is effective Dec. 31.

She has worked with 10 mayors and 41 town commissioners.

"Speaking on behalf of everyone past and present, it has been a pleasure to be associated with her," said Mayor Hubert Gregory. "She is a gracious lady and has always performed her duties in a professional manner."

Hollar, who was born in a house in Yadkinville and lives within a half-mile of Town Hall, was 25 and on maternity leave from a job in Winston-Salem, when then-Town Commissioner Herbert Todd approached her about taking the place of a man who was leaving his town job.

He knew her because it was a small town, but also because Hollar had once spent a month filling in for an ailing bookkeeper at Todd's lumberyard. That month had a profound impact on Hollar's career.

"It led to a lifetime," she said.

When she started, she was the only administrative staff person in the old Town Hall on Jackson Street.

"In 1965, Nancy did it all," said Town Manager Christopher Ong. "There was no town manager, no tax collector, no billing clerk."

The town had seven employees when she started, but they worked in jobs that often kept them out of Town Hall. There was the police chief, who was the town's only police officer, two sanitation workers and three public works employees.

Because she was often the first and only person the public saw when they'd come in, she would find herself fielding questions about zoning and other issues. As it happened, the man who had left came back soon after and worked for several more months, helping to train her.

But she often worked by herself for six years before the first town manager was hired in 1971.

"It took some of the burden off me," she said, joking. "There was somebody else I could blame."

The town now has 41 full-time employees.

Yadkinville, incorporated in 1857 as the county seat, is still a small town, with about 2,800 people.

When Hollar started working for Town Hall in the 1960s, downtown bustled with drugstores, a grocery store, two five-and-dime stores, men's shops and women's shops.

Those downtown shops went away, like they did in many towns, although downtown Yadkinville is experiencing a revival.

During Hollar's tenure with the town, the town built a new police department, a public works department and a Town Hall, and it opened a city park.

When the Town Hall was opened in 1999, it included a bas relief plaque of Hollar on the wall of the commissioners' meeting room.

They've had regular meetings once a month since Hollar started in 1965, meaning she has kept minutes for more than 550 regular meetings, not to count all the special meetings.

She has also worked as finance officer, so she has signed a lot of paychecks.

Hollar said she's not sure what she'll do now but feels it's time to go. She leaves with a sense of gratitude.

"I don't know how to put it into words," she said.

"I'm just very grateful I had this job. It's been a blessing to me and my family."

She was married nearly 50 years to Wayne Hollar, who died two years ago.

The couple had two daughters, Beth Angel and Cheryl Brown.

Hutchens said Hollar has provided knowledge and intelligence to the town, serving with integrity and honesty.

"I learned a lot of character from her," Hutchens said.

"Not just the job, but life. I'm certainly going to miss her when she goes out that door. My life's been certainly blessed from her."